Kerry James Marshall — The Histories — Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris — Exhibition — Slash Paris

In 15 days: September 18, 2026 → January 24, 2027

From September 18, 2026, to January 24, 2027, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris will present a major exhibition dedicated to Kerry James Marshall, one of the leading figures of contemporary American art. Entitled Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, this event marks the first retrospective of the artist ever held in France.

Developed in close collaboration with the artist and organized by the Royal Academy of Arts in London in partnership with the Kunsthaus Zürich, the exhibition brings together around seventy works, including eight previously unseen paintings created especially for the occasion. Through a journey spanning more than four decades of artistic production, visitors are invited to discover the breadth of a practice that extends beyond painting to include prints, drawings, and sculpture. The works on display come from major public and private collections across Europe and North America.

Born in 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, Kerry James Marshall has established himself as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work is distinguished by large scale compositions in which Black figures occupy a central place, asserting their presence with a dignity and power long absent from dominant narratives of art history. By situating these subjects within forms and conventions inherited from the great masters, the artist transforms scenes of everyday life into epic visual narratives.

His oeuvre explores the memories and legacies that shape African American history, from the forced displacement of enslaved Africans to the Americas to the struggles for civil rights and the emergence of the Black Power movement. Yet rather than depicting violence or oppression directly, Marshall reveals their traces and consequences through a subtle visual language centered on presence, resilience, and visibility.

This approach draws upon a vast network of visual references. The artist takes inspiration from both the traditions of Western painting and the imagery of contemporary popular culture. Nineteenth century French painting, comic books, science fiction, Afrofuturism, and mass media imagery all contribute to a distinctive artistic vocabulary in which scholarly knowledge and popular culture intersect.